The present invention pertains generally to printers and more specifically to paper cover mechanisms for printers, especially thermal printers. In many types of printers, the printer may have a storage compartment for a source of paper or other printable medium. These printers often conceal and protect the paper source with a paper cover to prevent interference by the user or others with the feeding of paper into the printing mechanism, which may cause failure of the printer.
In some printer types there also exists a need to integrate another component of the printing mechanism with the paper cover. In thermal printers, a roller is often integrated with the paper cover. When the paper cover is closed the roller assists other parts of the printing mechanism to produce text and images on the paper. To print, the roller may need to be in a substantially stationary position with respect to other parts of the printer. If the roller must be stationary when the paper cover is in the closed position, while also being firmly attached to the paper cover, the paper cover may be resistive to opening.
Solutions have been proposed for easily opening paper covers that are resistive to opening because of these rollers. U.S. Pat. No. 6,802,603, entitled “DEVICE FOR UNLOCKING A COMPARTMENT OF AN OPENING MECHANISM,” issued on Oct. 12, 2004 to Denis Montagutelli discloses a lever comprising stop elements capable of co-operating with the sides of a frame to cause a cover to rotate relative to the frame when a user rotates the lever. U.S. Pat. No. 6,666,604, entitled “THERMAL PRINTING DEVICE WITH FAST CLOSURE,” issued on Dec. 23, 2003 to Denis Montagutelli discloses a printer with a roller that has two degrees of freedom relative to the cover that may allow a cover to open. These proposed solutions require either additional parts on the paper cover assembly or overly complicated movement of parts which must be critically located with respect to associated printing mechanisms. Embodiments of the present invention provide solutions to these and other issues.